FAMILY BUSINESS (DVD/WS 1.85/DSS/ENG-FR-SUB) DVD

Family Business
You've probably already guessed that the Family Business in this all-star melodrama is the business of crime. Adapted from a novel by Vincent Patrick, the film stars Sean Connery as Jessie McMullen, the patriarch of a family of career criminals, including his son Vito (Dustin Hoffman) and grandson Adam (Matthew Broderick). Vito has gone legit, but college-educated Adam remains loyal to his grandfather. Reluctantly, Vito joins his father and son on a big-time heist involving millions of dollars' worth of test-tube specimens. There's many a slip-up and betrayal before the three generations can find a common ground. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cast Sean Connery as Jessie McMullen Dustin Hoffman as Vito McMullen Matthew Broderick as Adam McMullen Rosanna de Soto as Elaine McMullen Janet Carroll as Margie Victoria Jackson as Christine Bill McCutcheon as Doheny Deborah Rush as Michele Dempsey Mary Cooper as Rose Salem Ludwig as Nat Rex Everhart as Ray Garvey James Tolkan as Judge Marilyn Sokol as Marie

Crew Ann Roth - Costume Designer Sidney Lumet - Director Andrew Mondshein - Editor Cy Coleman - Composer (Music Score) Sonny Kompanek - Musical Direction/Supervision Ilona Herman - Makeup Joe Cranzano - Makeup Tom Priestley Jr. - Camera Operator Philip Rosenberg - Production Designer Andrzej Bartkowiak - Cinematographer Jennifer Ogden - Producer Arnon Milchan - Producer Burtt Harris - Producer Lawrence Gordon - Producer Gary J. Brink - Set Designer Peter Odabashian - Sound Editor Vincent Patrick - Screenwriter Richard Burridge - Screenwriter

Family Business
This intriguing mixture of crime caper with family melodrama from director Sidney Lumet is one of the New York auteur's most underrated films, a delightful blend of character development, funny dialogue, and an absorbing story. Unfortunately, the film is hampered badly by two chronic and greatly debilitating problems that it never overcomes. The first is the film's puzzling, wildly inappropriate score. The true story behind the soundtrack's creation and employment must be a fascinating one, so utterly wrong in tone, style, and usage is it for the material. More than a handful of wonderfully written, acted, and shot scenes in the film are sabotaged by the dippy, simple-minded tunes that overwhelm everything in their trite path. If Jaws (1976) is one of the best examples of how much a great, coherent score can add to a film, then this is one of the finest examples of how bad compositions can ruin one. Then there's the less annoying but still problematic situation inherent in the film's casting; quite simply, Sean Connery, Dustin Hoffman, and Matthew Broderick look absolutely nothing alike and couldn't pass for distant cousins much less three generations in one family. Lumet tries hard to explain the disparity with lots of cutesy side commentary about the family's crazy quilt of mixed ethnicity. Admittedly, it's a device that relates with clever symbolism to the genetic object of the family's theft scheme. It also soaks up a lot of the film's first act and feels after it's brought up for the umpteenth time like desperate posturing, an overly self-conscious effort to explain some dream casting. Family Business (1989) is a film that so nearly succeeds, it's painful to watch. A John Williams score and a few lines about adoption would have solved this film's problems and left viewers with a memorable, entertaining minor classic. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
 

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General Specifications: Language Options: English Subtitle Options: English, French Sound Processing: DS: Dolby Surround (4.0) Additional Features: cc Digitally mastered audio & anamorphic video Remastered in high definition Widescreen English Dolby Surround English and French subtitles Theatrical trailers Scene selections Interactive menus DVD Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1: Theatre Wide-Screen MPAA Rating: R DVD Discs Included: 1 DVD Sides: 1 DVD DVD Region Code: 1 Content Length: 113 min   DVD Chapters: Side #1 -- 1. Start [2:30] 2. Passover Seder [4:21] 3. Raising Jessie's Bail [3:21] 4. The Bail Hearing [3:17] 5. Catching Up [4:31] 6. Family Values [6:41] 7. Weekend Deadline [2:44] 8. Julio [2:12] 9. Denny's Wake [3:05] 10. Family Business [6:18] 11. Margo & Denise [2:45] 12. Christine's Gimmick [3:31] 13. The Peewee Grogan Story [6:08] 14. Breaking & Entering [6:45] 15. "This Is It" [3:29] 16. The Heist Goes Awry [4:30] 17. Depressed Over His Loss [3:19] 18. Michele Dempsey, Attorney [4:42] 19. Building Character [1:39] 20. In Margie's Apartment [4:59] 21. Breaking the News to Elaine [5:38] 22. A Word With Jimmy Chiu [2:27] 23. "Vito Ratted You Out" [:43] 24. The Sentencing [7:17] 25. Adam's Gripe [1:37] 26. Visiting Days [6:29] 27. "We Are Some Family" [2:54] 28. Jessie's Wake [5:41]